Everything is Working FOR Me

Intro Music:
Welcome to An Owner’s Guide for Your Life, the podcast that combines psychology, coaching, common sense and fun. I’m Tracey Browning, an entrepreneur, life coach, and lover of people. Now let’s talk about how to live love, make money, and change the world.
Tracey:
Hey, I’m glad you’re here. This is episode 32, and I’ve got a question for you.
What if you believed that everything was working FOR you?
Would your day be different? Would your life be different?

I’ve been working on this question a good bit, and I’m not Susie Sunshine all the time. I don’t think it 100% of the time, but I think it more and more. And that’s what you hope for. This belief that everything is working for me- I’ve seen how it changes my life. I’ve seen it change my friend’s lives. I’ve seen it change my client’ lives.

Years ago, my family was headed out the door and I can’t remember where we were going, but there were five of us walking out the door to go get in the Suburban. It had to have been about 15 years ago at least because my husband was going to drive. So that tells me none of my sons had their driver’s license or they would have been on that. So we hop in. It turns out Hubby’s forgotten his keys, so he runs back inside to get them, and we only gave him a little bit of grief. Anyway, he cranks up the car, out we go, we head up the road. We’re about 60 seconds up the road, if that, and we come up on a car that’s just wrecked. The wheels are still spinning in the air. So we stop and we help the girl who was driving. Man, she was stoned out of her mind. And there was a guy who came up too. He had seen the wreck and he said, “Gosh, she was flying and weaving all over the road.” Now, if my husband hadn’t forgotten his keys, this chick would have been flying right into the back end of our vehicle.

You’ve probably got examples like that in your own life. Maybe you think of them as good luck or little God moments or synchronicities or somebody is looking out for me kind of times. Maybe you think of them that way. Maybe you just don’t even recognize that they’re there. But I’m trying to notice things like that and have the thought that everything’s working for me.

Here’s another example. Way back in the day, I applied to the PhD program at Notre Dame, and I was at the top of the waitlist. If one person had decided not to go, I was in and I was disappointed because I didn’t wind up at Notre Dame. But looking back with perfect 2020 hindsight, getting into Notre Dame would not have been the best thing for me. Everything’s working out for me.

Now, here’s a recent example. My husband is executor of his father’s estate and anything that he has had to do over the past two month that realistically would take one step, maybe two, has taken at least seven steps and three extra phone calls. I promise, I kid you not, I’m not exaggerating. It’s frustrating, and it’s time consuming, and we’re just in the middle of slogging through lots of stuff. We could focus on the frustration and the overwhelm or take a deep breath and choose to believe that everything’s working for us. It will work out.

The jobs I didn’t get.
Sales I didn’t make.
The plans that didn’t turn out the way I hoped they would.
Relationships that I’ve had for a season and then they’re done.
All kinds of things that have happened that were expected and unexpected. Fun and easy stuff or heartbreakingly hard.

I believe that everything together is working for me.
Maybe not each individual event, but together they are.

Now this is not a belief that everything happens for a reason. No, unless you tack on the caveat that sometimes the reason is that somebody did something stupid. I might agree with you on that one. Things happen. Yes, decisions are made, actions are taken, and there are consequences. We live in the natural physical world, and it operates on a cause and effect model. So things happen- not always for a reason, except that it’s natural consequences.
But I do believe that even a really hard, difficult, horrible thing can work ultimately in my favor.

Believing that everything is working for me, it gives me extra patience. It gives me a little bit of extra grace with myself in the situation. Sometimes I just stop and say, “I am not seeing the benefit at the moment, but won’t it be interesting to see how this turns out?”

This does NOT mean that I don’t get upset, discouraged, frustrated, angry, sad. Of course I do! I’m human. I’ve got feelings. Feelings are really, really natural, but it DOES mean that I choose to live my life not believing that the world is out to get me. And it helps me not to dwell on things that I can’t control. It also helps me not to walk around with a chip on my shoulder.

Now it does not mean that I think everything that happens is, like, magical and that everything’s a blessing. I don’t think that. Covid sucks. Consequences from it have been difficult, but I do believe everything overall is working for me.

It’s like when you look at a piece of magnificent art-
think of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Van Gogh’sThe Starry Night or Monet’s Water Lilies.
There’s dark and light and all kinds of shades in between, and it all comes together to make an incredible picture.
It wouldn’t be the same to have a canvas with one color, even if it was your very most favorite color in all the world.It’s not the same.
The contrast gives definition and meaning.
It makes the art.
It’s beautiful in how it works together.
THAT’S what I’m talking about.

Try that thought on.
Everything is working FOR me.

Thank you for listening. I do appreciate you so much.

For a transcript of this episode or for more information about life and mindset coaching, visit my website https://www.tbrowning.com/.